Man, this started so strong and then just gradually wore on me untill It eventually became one of the dullest things I've had to sit through.
This might be the most repetitive short story collection I've read; and that's a shame because the few times M.R James tries to write something unique it's typically pretty good. But my good lord, the monotonous nature of these stories, the repeating elements really wears on you.
Almost every story involves a rich educated man either studying/exploring something or being told a spooky story by a colleague. The story will inevitably feature a church, a stupid "lower class" person and a vaguely human ghost or creature that appears at the end.

The few times M.R James deviates from this structure,the stories are much better, and that's why this gets a 3 instead of anything lower, there were some really enjoyable parts to this.

Here's my ranking of the stories:
●Lost hearts: 4●
●Casting the runes: 3.5●
●Count magnus: 3●
●The mezzotint: 3.5●
●The stalls of barchester cathedral: 2.5●
●Oh whistle and I'll come to you: 3.5●
●The treasure of abbot Thomas: 2.5 ●
●A view from a hill: 3●
●The story of a disappearance and an appearance: 3.5●
●The Ash tree: 3●
●The tractate middoth: 4●
●Martin's close: 3.5●
●Mr Humphreys and his inheritance: 2.5●
●Canon Alberics scrap-book: 3●
●Number 13: 3●
●An episode of cathedral history: 2.5●
●A warning to the curious: 3●